Not trying to throw curve balls, lol! Only trying to help get a feel for what you want, lol. You could take this in so many fun ways, you know? lol. . . key is keeping the animals safe while you're at it.

Have you looked into the specifics of setting up a 10g salt tank yet? I'm wondering how much more difficult it would be to run a cold arctic tank than to run a trop one.

If you could do the salties cold, then it won't be nearly as difficult to get you the nano community that you seem to really want, I think. That leaves brackish, neh? Something species only for this, I think - there are a ton of amazing brackish creatures - I dunno much about NANO ones, lol, but we can find out.

Plaudariums are awesome!

Gah! Not interesting!?? To each his own, lol. I find them kind of fascinating! >.<

What happened to my fixed reply to you? Well anyway, you saw it and understood it, Peludariums seem really cool, but I'm set comfortably in doing just aquariums, you know? lol.....I always keep my critters safe

I haven't looked up the specifics for the salt tank, no. I don't want to switch hemispheres because I purposely made the freshwater biotope an arctic hemisphere because my main tank is also freshwater, but its in the tropic hemisphere, see, I need it to be different - also, if you didn't know, its the two opposite biotopes combined

Yeah, I'll find out more about brackish critters. I'll talk to my LPS, read their books, get recommendations, all that good stuffPosted via Mobile Device

"Arctic" isn't possible. You won't find the fish for sale. You're not going to be able to get the needed "freeze your butt off" temps without a larger chiller. That might run you a grand and take a lot of space. Not to mention I have no clue if it could be used safely on such a small aquarium.

If you would be willing to dial things down a little, then the people here will be able to help you. I hate to be blunt, but it really is not possible for you to do "arctic" species.

It is your tank. If you wish to stock 5 3" fish in a 10 gallon, no one here will be able to stop you. However, I am telling you that it is a bad idea.

Lastly, I don't know if you guys would hate me or something, but I'm at my LPS and they do mostly fish, she said she has a 10gal and I could definitely do 3" fish and possibly stock up to 5 of them

You do know how notoriously inaccurate advice from most pet stores can be? Also you can't say 1 fish needs the same as another. You can have a 1 inch fish that needs a 30g or larger tank and another that singly can be fine in a 5 or 10g. Without telling your LPS the specific fish there is no accurate answer for how many you're going to fit in your 10g.
If I put 3 of my Pseudotropheus demasoni's (who have finished growing at1.5- 2inches) in a 10g or worse yet 5.. I think they'd most likely all be dead in 1 month tops.
However this is an interesting thread to follow! And the Bioluminescent plankton.. I love that stuff! I have always gone for late night swims at the beach just to watch the waves glow in my path.

dwarf puffers are the only true freshwater puffer fish there is (as far as i've heard)
the ottocyclist isn't so much as compatable as it's the only fish talked about that will survive the nipping the puffers will do, it makes sure it swims out of the way before getting it's fins nipped unlike other fish that may not handle the abuse so well

the puffer/otto match, isn't so much of a compatibility match, as your choices of mixing puffers are limited to what other people in the hobby have found survive. ... doesn't sound like the puffers are overly aggressive, nothing like the fighting betta, but sounds like they are agressive enough on other tank-mates to make life difficult for everyone else in the tank.

could do a search for the puffer fish on youtube, there's a video out there somewhere that shows the puffer chasing a laser pointer.

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pet stores trying to sell you 3" fish in a 10 gallon aquarium, ... if they've got the metabolism and activity of a sloth, then they don't need the space to move around with.

@BWG - just you wait boy, just you wait - I'm gonna so find me some arctic fish......maybe

I could go temperate, I guess, if I have to - but they have to be really, really cool (aesthetics) for me to be happy with them

I think you're right about the stock - Hmmm, it's whatever species and type of fish I pick that'll determine the stock. I'm just so new to this hobby I always think something is always concrete and its only one way or the highway type of mentality I have to change

You do know how notoriously inaccurate advice from most pet stores can be?

That's good point - I asked Chesh this question and I'll maybe make it short, no promises.

So I've been doing 50% water changes (most people from other forums think that's fine and or perfect) so after I do the initial water change I run a test to do any further adjustments, blah, blah, blah

Anyway, a couple days later my water get a little cloudy and my severums, uaru start breathing heavily, go down to my LPS, said you took out too much beneficial bacteria - also said to ONLY do a once a week 10% water change. They insisted that I buy the API quick start, bla, bla, bla

So anyway, weekend is like now and I would be doing a 50% water change, most people think that's perfect, also I'm doing a planted tank and I read that the plants give off some type of compound or substance that when it's in large quantities basically kill the plants....that's why I do the 50%

Also, if I didn't do the 50% than I don't know how much more ferts I could put in there and the Amazon river extract (this additive is in question)

If the goal is to have three separate tanks that look completely different, then you honestly don't even have to leave freshwater or tropical. Want some super quick examples of what I mean? Well I'm bored so in my mind you said yes. :)

I'm ignoring your specific parameters to make things easy on myself and because these are just examples.

Those are three quick examples of different looking biotopes and not even all the fish from them. I got bored of finding links. There are other biotopes though that I could list, these are just three of my favorites.